Old Worlds Demise
by vlad chovsky
Summary: A strange meeting with an even stranger group leads Team RWBY into the forefront of events that will change their world in more ways than they realize. Cultures will be shifted and old traditions will be shattered as a new force, more powerful than any could imagine, seeks to conquer the world of Remnant; either through peace and cooperation, or through blood and fire.
1. The Bloody Boys

_Never trust a stranger-friend;  
No one knows how it will end.  
As you're pretty so be wise;  
Wolves may lurk in every guise._

 _-Little Red Riding Hood_

They came upon the crash site two hours after landing, in a wide clearing. The wreck was little more than a twisted hunk of black and burning metal, bodies littering the scorched ground, human blood mingled with Grimm ashes creating some kind of morbid, yet artistic, landscape. Blake counted five bodies; the pilot of the vessel, who had died on impact, and four others scattered around the outside, each having been ripped apart and butchered. Judging from the weapons and remnants of armor, the occupants were soldiers.

"So, what can we make of this" asked the snow queen Weiss.

Blake ran her hand along the claw makes on the ship's hull. "Nevermores brought them down; the survivors tried to leave but were ambushed by beowulves," she looked to the edge of the clearing, "and they fled in that direction."

"If we're lucky some of them might still be alive," said the red hooded Ruby, trying to sound more confident than she really was about the ships former occupants.

"'if'" repeated Blake.

Yang playfully slapped her faunas friend on the back. "Don't be such a pessimist, let's find these guys and get out of here".

Team RWBY made off into the general direction of the fleeing survivors. They encountered no Grimm on their journey, nor any other wild life. In fact, the forest was eerily calm. But before the colorful girls could be lulled in to a sense of peace, they began hearing the faint sounds of gun fire.

That was when they found one of the survivors.

He was sprawled out, looking up at the sky and coughing up blood. He had a dark red crater in his chest that erupted blood with every breath the dying man made. When Weiss went to his side, he grabbed the heiress' arm with a weak grip.

"No!" he cried with a whimper. "you've got ta… save… te' others." The soldier spoke in an accent Weiss couldn't place.

"Where are they?" asked Ruby said frantically.

Before she could receive an answer, the man's eyes rolled back in his head and grip on Weiss' arm weakened even more.

The team bolted toward the shots, which became more frantic as time went on. Then they came upon an outcropping on a hill surrounded by Grimm. Ursas, Beowulves, and Boarbatusks; dozens, attempted to crawl onto the soldier's perch, only to be gunned down by bright blue munitions.

They could see five men on the ridge, shouting and shooting at the encroaching monsters. One of the defenders hit an Ursa square in the chest with a shpot of his rifle, punching a hole through the creature's torso, only to have his head taken off his shoulders by another flanking monster.

The girls knew they had to help, that without them the troopers would eventually be overwhelmed by the swarming beasts and killed.

As they moved to engage, Blake noticed a sixth soldier. He leaped from Grimm to Grimm, almost a green blur, slashing and cutting each with near surgical precision. Where ever it went, the black beasts were parted in two. Something was off about him though, something she just couldn't place.

Yang was the first to enter the fray, followed by the rest of her team. The fiery blond brutally dispatched Grimm with practiced ease, effortlessly bringing down each foe that crossed her path.

Blake and Wiess worked in unison, turning multiple Grimm into dust in mere moments. The beasts tried surrounding the duo, but were cut down before they could mount a successful attack.

Ruby made her way to where the soldiers were making their stand, using Crescent Rose to propel herself quickly up the hill and on to the outcropping. She landed in front of the defenders, who looked at her with stunned, tired eyes.

"Bloody 'ell" a bearded trooper said, seemingly not believing what he was seeing.

"Don't worry boys," Ruby stated triumphantly, "Team RWBY's got this under control."

The soldiers looked at one another in disbelief, then at the red hooded girl in front of them, before she leapt back down and joined the fray.

After the last Grimm fell, the soldiers finally left their perch.

"Who'd we lose?" shouted the lead Huntsman the men coming down the hill, sliding his silver blade back into its scabbard strapped to his back.

" Just O'Bannon," one of the men shouted back.

Their leader cursed before turning to the four Huntresses'. He took off his brown duckbilled hat and bowed, smiling as he did so.

"Thank ye' ladies," he rose, smoothly sliding his hat back on, "if it weren't fer ya, me an' me boy's id' all be dead."

The men behind him nodded. The four remaining men could not have looked more diferent from their leader. The troopers were disheveled, covered in mud, blood and ash and all wearing the same greenish uniform and armor. The huntsman, however, wore a green suit vest with white dress shirt and brown pants. He had barely a speck of blood on him save a stain on his right shoulder, where he must have been cut during the fighting.

"If ye don't mind me asking" the man said, "who exactly are you four?"

"We," Ruby gestured to the other girls, "are team RWBY!" This seemed to amuse the huntsman, who chuckled at the small girl's enthusiasm.

Weiss rolled her eyes as the group introduced themselves. "And you are?"

"Me' names Polyc, and these glorious bastards here are me' Bloody Boys."

The man with the salt and pepper beard stepped forward first.

"Names Gormain."

"Conner," said the man in the dark-green beret.

"Call me Paidi," said a thin man with a pink scar over his lips.

"And I'm Gilla" a youth with the red hair said finally.

"Why were you guys out here in the first place," Yang asked, clapping off dust from her hands.

"We were sent to recon the area fer some minin' ting they got goin on. Clear whatever was out here and get our pay, simple as tha'". Polyc turned to his subordinates, "right boys?"

The Bloody Boys nodded.

Blake narrowed her eyes at the men; something about them didn't seem right.

The group began walking back to the clearing to await the air-ship. The Boy's seemed to be on edge, shooting glances at every cracking branch or rustling of leaves.

Ruby fell in beside Polyc.

"So," she said inquisitively "you're a huntsman?"

"Aye" Polyc answered, not looking at the small girl beside him. "I hunt 'tings from time ta' time."

"Where'd you study?" Ruby asked, getting closer.

"What do ye' mean?" He looked at her with confused, grey eyes.

This caused Ruby to raise an eyebrow.

"Like… an academy. Beacon, Haven…"

"Self-taught," Polyc answered almost too quickly.

"It's just I've never seen a non-huntsman move so fast before."

"Well, where we come from, it pays ta' be light on yer feet."

"Where _are_ you guys from?" inquired Blake, eyes narrowing on the Boys' leader.

Polyc looked back at the cat eared girl, fists clenching.

"How bout we save the questions until after we know we're out of harm's way," Gormain said loud enough for all to hear. The troopers and huntress' proceeded along in relative silence.

They soon reached the airship that would take them back to civilization, team RWBY ushering the men into the hold before entering the transport themselves.

Sitting down, both teams facing each other, Blake leaned forward.

"So about my question", Blake began. "You still haven't told us where you all are from"?

The Boys looked slowly to their leader before Polyc spoke up.

"All 'round" he said, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back into the chair.

"'All around?" the faunas repeated, unconvinced.

"We been trou ala bi'" Paidi said, "lota our bi's are dead, you all showin up outa' nu'where cu'in up fuukers left and ri', shou be us askin the q'estions here bi."

"Like where you'll be taking us for the time being," Conner interjected.

"Beacon Academy," Yang said with pride.

"Beacon Academy?" said Gilla, tilting his head.

"Aye Gilla," Polyc said, putting an arm roughly around the red haired boy's neck, "Beacon Academy, the place these fine ladies learned how to save our asses."

The other men nodded and agreed, Ruby and Yang beamed and Blake glared. Weiss simply looked on at the four disheveled soldiers. She had been all around the world and seen many great things and met many strange people, but never anyone like the men sitting before her. Their uniforms were strange, their accents even stranger, and the weapons they used were nothing like anything she had seen before.

The guns were more compact than regular guns; the magazine was under the stock, a short hand guard that fit their hands and a two inch barrel.

Their clothing, though torn and muddied from the day's battle, could be seen to be deep shades of green and black, in small hexagonal patterns.

Polyc, though, was the strangest of them all.

The Boys quickly dazed off into sleep, as did the huntress' after them.

The ship touched down with a thud, jolting the occupants awake and making

"Right, time to disembark boys," shouted Polyc sleepily. The men in green jumped to their feet almost immediately.

Yang threw the transports door open, leading the way out. Waiting in front of the returning huntress' was none other than the schools head master, Professor Ozpin.

He took a sip from his mug as the returning students funneled out of the airship, followed by the men.

"I take it the mission was a success" he asked, looking over at the men behind the four girls.

"We got there too late, these were the only survivors," Blake answered.

Polyce put his hand forward, Ozpin returning the gesture and grabbing his hand with a nod.

"Names Polyc, if it weren't fer your girls back there, me and me boys would all be wolf food."

"That's what huntress' do" the Head Master replied.

Ozpin led the group into the academy, the men distracted by the remaining female students still out after dark, while Polyc was looking around at the architecture.

They found themselves in the dorms reserved for guests and visiting students, in front of a vacant room. It was only marginally bigger than the normal rooms, the same four beds adorning the sides of the room.

"Well shit," Gilla said, stepping into the room, "four beds, five of us?"

"Least now you can finally spoon Paidi like you always wanted," laughed Conner, causing Paidi and Gilla to laugh along with him.

"It's the best we could do on such short notice" Ozpin said.

"We'll make do," Polyc said. He looked to the group standing in front of the dorms door, "We always do" he said before shutting the door softly.


	2. Company of Fools

Yang awoke with a loud yawn, stretching her arms above her head, cracking and popping her back and blinking the sleep out of her eyes. Looking around the room she noticed she, surprisingly, was the first one up. The others slept soundly; Ruby, specifically, who slumbered in her combat clothes, being too tired to change out of them.

Slowly and groggily getting out of bed, the blond girl picked her uniform from the pile of messy clothes beside her bed. Slipping them on, she fixed her thick golden locks by running her fingers through and tussling them to get it just the way she like it.

On her way to the cafeteria, Yang over heard some of the student's gossip over who the strange men eating in the dining hall were.

'I guess the Boys must be up,' she thought, as one red headed girl mentioned more than a bit too loud that one of them tried to hit on her. Rather successfully, as the girl was flushed red talking about it.

In the Cafeteria, the four men sat together, two across from one an other at a vacant table, while students sat and looked at them with wonderment and confusion.

Yang took her place in the food line and collected her breakfast; a small stack of pancakes, a milk box, an apple and two hash browns. When she approached the table the Boys sat at, Paidi's eyes lit up with amazement, staring directly at her. She couldn't help but smile at him.

"They go' fookin fla' ca'es?" Paidi said loudly, his mouth seemingly watering at the sight of the food the blonde girl carried.

"What the hell do you think Conners been eatin' for the past ten minutes ya' gobshite," Gilla said as his friend made his way quickly to the breakfast line to get his precious 'fla' ca'es', nearly knocking several students over in his rush.

"Good morning Yang," Gormain said, sipping from a cup of coffee. She almost didn't recognise the older man without his beard, looking younger and more handsome than the day before, his muscular frame stretching the pressed shirt to near tearing.

Instead of the ragged and ripped uniforms the four men wore the white dress shirts and black dress pants of Beacon Academy students. Conner going the extra mile and sporting the standard blue vest as well as well as his own beret.

"Morning boys," Yang said cheerily. "Hope you all had a good rest last night."

Conner laughed sarcastically, looking up from his plate of food. "Paidi wouldn't shut the hell up all night. Kept going on about, uh…" he snapped his fingers several times, "the one with the bow."

"Blake?" Yang said with condescending tone.

"Yes, her," he replied. "Kept sayin' she was 'the most beautiful girl he ever seen', and that he wanted to 'hold her all night long'. Least I think that's what he said. Half the time you can barely understand what the fucker says." As if on que, Paidi appeared next to Conner, carrying a plate overflowing with pancakes.

"Ya' talkin' shi' by'?" Paidi said, slamming his plate on the table with a loud clang, spilling its contents over the wooden surface. Conner looking up at his friend, before calmly going back to his breakfast. Paidi sucked his teeth, sitting down net to the beret-toting trooper. "Wha' I fookin' thou'" he said, before digging into his chaotic tray of food.

"Please Piadi, I don't want you feel what its like to get the shite kicked outa you by some who can read", Conner stated before Paidi could begin eating his prize. The scarred man glared at his verbal assailant, before going back to his breakfast.

"Wha' I fookin' thou'" Conner mimicked, the other growled.

"Conner, Paidi, what did I tell you two about fighting?" said Gormain, with an exaggerated fatherly tone.

"They do this a lot, huh?" asked the orange haired Nora, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Aye, like a fuckin' married couple." Gilla then scrunched his face, turning towards to the girl next to him. "How the…"

Ren then appeared from behind his companion holding two trays; one topped with a mountain of food, the other with a bowl of cereal. "Sorry, she does that a lot."

Pyrrha, Jaune and the rest of team RWBY arrived later on, Ruby showing up with a face that was flushed red.

The three teams chatted and ate for the longest while, the only one staying clear of any interaction with either side being their fuanus friend, but Yang chalked in it up to Blake just being Blake.

Before any of them knew it, the bell rang and the students that crowded the dining hall began to throw away their trash and head to class.

"Well", said Pyrrha, "better get to class before Glynda gives us an earful again."

"Mind if we tag along?" asked Gormain, seeing every one leaving.

Jaune and Ruby looked at each other, then to the puppy dog like eyes Gilla and Conner. Yang knew, even with their relative naivety that they wondered what Glynda would say to their witnessing her students fight.

"Oh come on," Nora said suddenly, putting her arm around Gilla's shoulders, "what's Goodwitch gonna say to some guys knowing how we are at protecting the world?"

* * *

Ruby was the last of her team to leave the room, clothed in only her towel and wielding her hair and body products. She never liked showering with anyone else, even her own sister, always feeling self-conscious about being younger and 'not as developed' as everyone else. So to remedy this, Ruby would shower late at night, making sure no one else was around to see her.

But when she neared the communal showers and heard what sounded like singing, she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

" _I'll build a lonesome castle upon some mountain high."_

The singer sounded like a man, the closer she got to the showers the better she heard the melancholy tone of his voice.

" _Where she can sit and view me, as I go passing by, where she can sit and view me, as I go marching on."_

She entered the change room area, listening intently to whoever was singing this strange song. Rounding the corning, throwing her towel over a rack, she heard the shower running, steam drifting through the entryway from the bathing area.

" _For I'm a river driver, and I'm far away from home."_

Peeking further in, her face turned as red as her towel.

"Hello?" Polyc said, turning around slightly to see who was spying on him. Ruby jumped back quickly, not wanting him to see her. "Anybody there?" he asked again. Ruby didn't know what to do; she couldn't walk back to her room and forget about washing up, especially after all she had been through the day previous, but she couldn't stand being naked in the same room with someone she didn't even know. Let alone a _man._

Although, if she were quick enough, she could be in and out without the huntsman even noticing her.

She took several deep breaths, held her head up high, and marched into the showers.

"Oh, Ruby, it's you."

' _Damn'_ she thought.

The girl blushed, but remained stoic in her decision. "Good morning," she squeaked out quickly without thinking.

Polyc chuckled awkwardly, fighting himself not to turn around. The two showered in relative silence for a time, neither willing to break the ice or look at the other.

"I liked that song," Ruby said, cutting off the stiff silence. "The one you were singing."

"Oh, that? It was just somethin' me da' used to sing ta' me ma' when…" he stopped.

The silence kept on for a few awkward seconds, the only sound being that of the water hitting the tiled floor.

"Was he a musician?" she said, if only to keep at least one of them talking.

"Nah, farmer. Old bastard had a set a' pipes on 'im though, and he'd be damned if he let ya' forget it" he said, almost solemnly.

Ruby turned a bit. "Are you and him still close?" She didn't know why she asked that, to her it felt like prying.

"Not," he paused, "as much as me sisters would want. I haven't seen 'im for years; out and about with the Boys and all that." He forced a laugh. "What about you? Any brothers, sisters?"

"Well, there's Yang" the red reaper started.

"Bullshite!" polyc exclaimed playfully.

"It's true!" she laughed. "She takes after our dad a lot more than I do. In more ways than one."

"No offence, but neither a' ya look the same," he joked. "I mean; She's got…" he made a cupping motion around his chest.

Ruby looked at the porcelain wall, her smile fading. "I get that a lot," she said softly, guessing at what he was implying.

"Same with me sisters and I," he said, the girl perking up. "All red hair, freckles, and pretty green eyes. We got our mother ta' t'ank for that."

The two hunters chatted and washed happily for several minutes, possibly wasting gallons of Beacons precious hot water.

After their bathing was completed, Polyc and Ruby walked side by side down the hall to the caffiteria, the huntsman laughing at a joke the huntress had said about dogs and the postal service.

"Mister Polyc," came an authoritative, feminine voice from behind the holiday duo. They both turned around. "Aye…" he said, trailing off as he laid eyes on the schools' defense instructor Glynda Goodwitch.

He cleared his throat and stood straighter. "I am Polyc" he said bowing, "what can I be helping ya' with las?"

Glynda rolled her eyes. "Mister Ozpin would like to speak with you. It is of the utmost urgency." She looked the huntsman up and down, not liking what she was seeing. His hair was wild and unkempt, his grin too wide, his posture too relaxed. An despite just coming from a, suspiciously long, shower, he still had the clinging sent of sweet liquor.

She groaned at the thought.

The man frowned and sagged his shoulders. "Can it wait till I have me coffee?"

"The professor won't take up too much of your time," she lied. "Now please, follow me."

Ruby went on her way to the dinning hall while Polyc followed behind the blonde witch to meet the famed Ozpin.


	3. Grounds for Divorce

Light filled the room, chasing away the darkness surrounding the stage, revealing the other students in the stands nodding and clapping respectfully, while Blakes team and the four men that accompanied them were cheering and shouting praises to her prowess. Her opponent limped off into the gallery without a word, sitting down and putting his head on the table-top, both in shame and exhaustion.

"Very fine work, Ms. Belladonna," said Ms. Goodwitch, sashaying up to the stage and making a few checks on her scroll. "As always, your speed is your strength, and you used it to your full advantage."

The cat faunes smirked and nodded.

"Anyone else care to test their strength?" Goodwitch asked the students.

Some turned to the mighty Pyrrha Nikos to take up the challenge, while others looked to the boastful Yang Xiao Long to put her teammate down. One or two, though, wished for some other, less known fighter to champion them. God forbid they lose out on the gambling pot.

Gormain stood and cleared his throat loudly. "If I may make a suggestion, Ms. Goodwitch?"

"You may," she said, raising an eyebrow at the old soldier.

"Blake should have to fight a real soldier, someone who thinks like she does, acts like she does, someone who has experience fighting someone of her calibre." He looked around the room, "no offence."

Glynda thought for a moment, wondering who exactly he meant. "And who do you have in mind?"

The aged trooper smiled wide and clamped a strong hand onto Paidi's shoulder. "Paidi," he looked down on his companion with a sly grin, "why don't show the good students of Beacon what the Bloody Boys are made of?"

Paidi looked up at his commander, then to the two others sitting next to him, then to the young men and women around him. Then to Gormain again.

"Fook off b'y" he said with a sneer.

"Go on ya' cunt," Gilla said, slapping his friend on the back.

"Come on," chimed Yang, "I'm sure Blake will go easy on you."

After much prodding, Paidi huffed, got up from his seat and approached the stage. Walking down the flight of stairs he began unbuttoning his dress shirt, revealing his slim, toned torso covered in a riot of tattoo designs, colors and scars, the largest of which showed a meteor shower over the skyline of a city on his back. He then tossed his crumpled shirt to the side, the girls closest to him swooning and the boys groaning.

"You really think he has a chance against Blake?" Ruby whispered to Conner.

"Don't be fooled" he said, "she's gonna have her work cut out for her."

The lights shut off as Blake and Paidi faced each other, the Bloody Boy making a show of drawing his blades from two small scabbards attached to his belt. He spun them in his fingers, never breaking eye contact with the young huntress while entering a defense stance.

Blake moved first, rushing forward in a quick attack pattern, zig zagging from side to side, wanting to get out of the way of any of Paidi's attacks. closing in, she slashed at her opponent's head, meeting only air instead of flesh, the mercenary ducking deftly under her blow and bringing the butt of his dagger up in an uppercut to her chin, followed by quick jabs to her abdomen and chest. This sent the fuanus into a retreat, reeling from the sudden assault. Paidi pressed his attack, never letting his foe regroup.

She dodged slice after slice, giving more and more ground as she concentrated on taking as little damage as possible. The Boy

She saw this as her chance to press the attack. She threw herself into a flurry of lightning blows, trying to strike where her opponent was weakest. But each blow was expertly blocked by the silver knives of the Bloody Boy.

' _He's fast'_ she thought, using an ice shell to create a clone so she could retreat. Paidi struck the statue, shattering it to pieces.

"Ya' t'ink ya' ca' bea' me?" he taunted. "I ki'ed ta' best fooks in Drop Alle' Cunt!"

Blake growled. Non-of her fights lasted this long, or gave much lip, let alone against a regular soldier.

Blake, quicker than the Boy could react, switched to the pistol function on her weapon, got low to the ground as much as she could and fired at Paidis legs, hoping to at least slow him down in preparation for another attack.

The dust bullets connected with their targets; ripping gruesome holes in the mans calf and thigh, sending him sprawling to the ground in a fit of shrieks and curses in barley recognisable words. Blood poured and spurted out of his wounded leg, faster and faster with each passing second.

Blake looked wide-eyed and frozen at the wounded Boy. She was using training clips, there was no way they could have hurt him, let alone do as much damage as they had done. She looked down at her weapon, thinking it may have been sabotaged or tampered with in some way before she retrieved it.

A powerful hand clasped onto the back of her neck, throwing her off the stage effortlessly. She looked back up to the arena, seeing the three other troopers rush to the aid of their comrade, pistols drawn and shouting for the enclosing crowd of students to stay away.

"Blake!" she heard someone yell from behind her, she didn't know which.

"They…" Blake said absentmindedly, vision blurry from the sudden adrenal shock.

She felt herself be pulled to her feet by several hands, then dragged up the theatre stairs as the voices of men, women, boys and girls screamed and shrieked around her.

"They don't have Auras."

* * *

Ozpin looked out the massive green-tinted window onto the campus square. Taking a sip from his mug as a news reel played out over his computer, about the sudden spike in crime that had over taken the city of Vale.

The latest act of this 'ultraviolence', as the media calls it, involved a gang calling themselves the 'Onyx Street Bangers'. Apparently, the entire gang, thirty armed men in total, were wiped out to a man during some early morning gun battle in the industrial district.

He heard the door whoosh open behind him.

"So" said Polyc, his reflection playing out in the glass before Ozpins eyes, "what is it ya' wanted ta' say ta' me?"

"Mister Polyc…" he said, pausing the reel.

"Polyc's fine."

"My apologies," Ozpin retracted before taking a seat in his cog-chair. Polyc put his hands in his pockets and cocked his head to the side, refusing the seat offered to him.

"Can we make this quick? I have haven't had me coffee yet."

"This meeting wont be long, I assure you," Oz lied, "I simply wanted to talk to you about some… developments that have arisen."

Ployc raised a skeptical brow.

"First off," the headmaster said, taking on a near solemn tone, "we collected the bodies of your comrades. They have been placed in the Vale national morgue, waiting to be picked up." He lowered his head slightly, "I'm sorry my students couldn't get to you sooner."

The huntsman nodded. "Thank you, they deserve ta' be buried back home."

The Professor leaned back a bit. "That brings me to my next piece of news." Polyc looked to sneer, but Ozpin continued. "When team RWBY rescued you, you mentioned that your team had been sent to clear the way for a mining operation, correct?"

"Aye," the mercenary said dubiously. "Some big compn'y, pay was good, no questions asked."

"Well, I've been doing some digging," he saw a flash of anger in the mans eyes. "Hoping to get you and your men home as fast as possible, of course. And do you know what I found?"

The Boy frowned. "No clue."

"I found nothing. On you, your friends, not even your mission. The Shnees have mining rights to the area you were found, and nothing in any database they have shows any operations taking place there."

Polyc chewed his tongue. "Must be some pretty black ops shite we were doin' then, huh? 'Sides, wha' you care? We get our money, you get your…" he shrugged, "Wha' ever tha' 'ell it is you want, an' every one's fine."."

Ozpin leaned forward, entwining his fingers under his chin. "You seem rather calm, even after watching your friends be butchered like animals."

Polyc visibly twitched. "Been through me own share a' 'ells Ozzy, I'm used to it." He smirked, "Sure you an' Jamie boy are too."

Before he could answer, the professors' scroll screeched with the awful emergency ringer.

"Professor, we have a problem!" came Glyndas unusually shrill, panicked voice.

"What is it?"

"One of the mercenaries was shot during a sparring match, and… now their waving guns at the students!"

Before Ozpin could react, Polyc leapt over the desk, grabbed the professor tightly by the throat and slammed the back of his head into the glass. The window cracking with the force. He fought him off, taking the mercenary by the arm and flipping him on the spot. Polyc broke free of his grasp, and with a speed that surprised Ozpin, retreated to the centre of the room.

"I fuckin' knew it," Polyc said through clenched teeth. "I knew you bastards 'ould try something!"

"I have nothing to do with this," Ozpin calmly stated. He drew his oaken cane up, waiting for the merc to make the first move.

Polycs grey eyes were those of a stalking animal. "Ya' 'spect me ta' believe that?" He leapt at the professor before he could answer. Oz brought his cane down, cracking against the Boys arm and breaking the bone in two, the limb hanging by meat and tendons.

Several seconds of blocks and parries followed, a few of Polycs one-arm blows making it through, before the Boy retreated.

"Ya' have no clue who yer' fookin with, old man."

Ozpin watched as Polycs arm twisted around and fixed itself back into its original position.

"When 'am done with ya', 'am goin' down there, getting' me' bys', an fookin off. Any a' yer' little kids want ta' try an' stop us, I'll gut them me' self."

Oz locked eyes with the Bloody Boy. "We had nothing to do with this!" his usual calm demeanor forgotten in the face of this new monster. "We have no plans for you, we only want you gone!"

Polyc, to the professor's annoyance, began laughing heartily, almost sardonically.

"If you really believe that Oz" he said, standing up-right, "then come with me ta' get them."

* * *

Students and teachers took defensive positions around the auditorium door, those unarmed or ill-equipped told to run for safety.

Ozpin and Polyc walked swiftly passed the makeshift barricades and into the massive light-lit room the four troopers hid in.

"Stand down!" the great professor and mercenary said in unison, standing between the two groups of warriors.

Polyc looked to his men, then back to Rubys face. He sighed, and began speaking.

"We weren't sent by some comn'y, I'll give ya that. But we do represent a much greater power. These men," he gestured to the Boys behind him, "are members of the First Company of the First Regiment of Dublia, called 'The Bloody Boys'. They are soldiers loyal to his grace, Emperor Malbex. For the past four weeks, this planet has been under the control of the Nexian Empire, and you have all been citizens."

The crowd, even Ozpin and the instructors, were speechless, save one.

"Then who are you?" shouted Ruby, Crescent Rose aimed to his forehead, the sight shaking.

"He is Polyc Breen," shouted Gilla, "Fifth Hand of the Emperor, Protector of Dublia and slayer of the Beast of Gorga."

The Beacon defenders looked to the man standing between them and the Boys, and lowered their weapons.


End file.
